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Amy

@tillystoys

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Holding onto childhood.
🌈 Play ideas & fun things.
🐈‍⬛ We are a cat foster family! The cat stuff is on @whiskersandrainbows

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Today we unpacked the Halloween stuff. All those toys that I bought when she was younger have turned into seasonal decorations that live in a box in the loft and come out when it's their time to shine. It means they never get old and she never grows out of them because they're now just our family Halloween/Easter/Christmas/autumn/spring etc decorations. It definitely helps keep the magic alive and we both enjoy rediscovering them each year. 👻🧙‍♀️

This is the @ostheimerwoodentoys stables, filled with spooky figures from @lankakadetoys with a spooktacular playcloth as a backdrop from @the.wonderie.

#halloweenactivitiesforkids #halloweentoys #kidshalloween #spookyseason #woodentoysforkids by @tillystoys

👻 AD and what a cool thing to make one for! Which ghost family gets your vote? Ghost Family 1 with its friendly and approachable kind of ghost vibes or Ghost Family 2 with their more spooky and scary ghost vibes?

We got these from @noelinotoys and I will be using them as Halloween toys/decorations for at least the next 50 years! If you fancy adding any of them to your Halloween collection you can buy them direct and TILLY15 will get you a spooktacular 15% off. 👻👻

#halloweendecoration #halloweentoys #spookytown #woodentoysforkids #seasonaldisplay by @tillystoys

It struck me today how many children 'grow out' of playing. And how blessed I am that mine hasn't. Sure, there's a good smattering of screen time in there now but she still knows how to put it down and play. Play should be encouraged and celebrated. Tea parties in the park in a tiny café with tiny toys and even tinier cups and saucers are something to cherish. 🫖☕️

Info for toy loving parents: this is the small story house with 'Teas and Cakes' wallpaper from @thestoryhouse.toys. The little dolls are from @clicques_toys. The table is made from loose parts from @lubulona and the teeny tiny tea set was from Amazon.

#dollshouse #miniaturehouse #smallworldplay #woodentoysforkids #openendedplay by @tillystoys

You'd have to be conkers not to make at least one of these this autumn! The hedgehogs are adorable, the pumpkins fiddly (but they look awesome in a display), the spider is super cute and the cats are cats, what more is there to say! 😻

Am I missing anything, what else can you make out of conkers?

#autumnactivitiesforkids #conkercrafts #conkerseason #autumncraftsforkids #kidscraftideas by @tillystoys

Teachers, are we surviving? I'm about three weeks in and the summer holidays feel like they were several years ago 🤪 Today we downed tools and turned to art because they and I needed a break. I showed them a picture of two sunflowers and gave them a huge pack of pastels and told them to come and show me when they felt they'd finished. It worked so well. They learnt how to use pastels through actually using pastels. They learnt different techniques through trial and error, produced a brilliant piece of artwork AND had a really great time along the way. I especially love how every child had sight of the same inspiration picture yet every single child created something that was unique to them. 🌻

P.S Instagram suggested this song choice to me so I went with it 🤷🏼‍♀️

#year3teacher #ks2art #artatschool #sunflowerart #pastelart by @tillystoys

I love this so much! I can't even tell you how many hours worth of work went into it. To begin with it seemed like we'd be cutting and sticking things together for the rest of time but all of a sudden that stage was complete and then it was time to assemble it. It's the perfect project for someone who loves crafting and small world play. It's the ultimate tiny house! You can glue the furniture and pieces down but we chose to keep them loose so Tilly can move them around as she plays with it.

AD We got it from @thetinycraft.co and it's called The Garden Hideaway. Not that I want to be that person talking about Christmas in September but if you've got an older child who is patient and enjoys crafting, it's well worth having a look at what they sell. 🎁

#smallworldplay #miniaturetoys #dollshouse #kidscraftideas #miniaturehouse by @tillystoys

Is it autumn yet? I am so ready for cosy boots and chunky scarves. We had good fun earlier today sorting through all the autumn toys and as if by magic, a treehouse appeared. Autumn toys and play are hands down my favourite, even beating Christmas themed play. Anyway, I'm off to pretend to be a tiny gnome in a forest while friendly (hopefully) squirrels scamper around me. Ah imaginative play, I hope it never stops. 🍂🦊🐿

Do you want to know where lovely things are from? The little gnomes and loose parts are from a @joguines_grapat set. The felt mushrooms are from @papoosetoys, the trees are a mix of Bumbu, Holztiger, Ostheimer and Predan, the animals are a mix of Ostheimer and Holztiger and the treehouse is from @thestoryhouse.toys. 🧡

#openendedtoys #openendedplay #kidsplayroom #kidsplayideas #autumnplayideas by @tillystoys

AD Many many thanks to CONNETIX 🙌 they sent us their new CONNETIX Mini Travel Set and it arrived just in time for our holiday. I've long thought that they should do a travel set and often used to pop a few tiles in a bag to take out and about. The Mini Travel Set from @connetix_tiles is brilliant and is well worth adding to a collection, no matter how many tiles you already have. The pieces are a good size so they can make 'big builds' without them actually being big, the magnet strength is brilliant and much stronger than any other tiles we've tried, you get a really good range of shapes and colours and they can be used in lots of different ways. Oh and Tilly loves the reusable stickers! The carry case is great too as it can be used as a base for builds. It gets a very genuine and solid 10/10 from both of us. I am happy to recommend it 🌈✈️

#CONNETIX #CONNETIXTiles #CONNETIXUniverse by @tillystoys

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.... It will either blast off or fall over. My money is on the latter but I'm happy to be proved wrong 🚀 We joined in with the Sunday Stacking Challenge from @chillp3pp3r at the weekend which led to lots of lovely space play.

I never would have thought to use the sweets to make a rocket so well done to whoever thought of this idea. A fabulous example of just how versatile open-ended toys can be. 🍬

#chillpepperchallenge #stackingtoys ##woodentoysforkids #openendedplay #kidsshelfie by @tillystoys

Did you make these when you were a child? They can be treasure maps, maps for explorers, hunters, pirates, princesses, dragon hunters... any sort of map you want! The sun helped as they dried out in about 15 minutes but if it's not a sunny day you can always pop them in the oven on a low temperature for a few minutes. It's a fun idea for something to do and can lead to hours of treasure hunting type imaginative play.

Sprinkling coffee granules on them worked well as it gave the colour more depth plus it made them smell nice and who doesn't want a nice smelling map!

PS The music was specifically chosen for the three teenagers in my life because I know they love this sort of 'pirate music' ☠️ 🎶 by @tillystoys

So, how's your summer holidays going? We've hit the point when no one has any idea what day it is - Monday? Thursday? Sunday? Who knows 🤷🏼‍♀️ the days have settled into a nice chilled rhythm of vegging out on the sofa and watching TV/films/screens in the morning and the afternoons are spent deep in imaginative play. It's turning out to be a pretty great summer.

Screen time is up there as a biggie for parents and opinions. I've always taken the view of let's enjoy it but also, after a few hours, let's step in and turn it off. I have no issue with her spending the mornings in jammies watching TV or playing on the Switch when she's going to spend a solid 4 hours creating a magical imaginative world in the afternoon.

Fun comes in lots of forms - a screen, a cardboard box, an expensive wooden toy, a charity shop find, a stick, a book, a craft, a big brother taking you out for lunch at McDonald's.... it's all good fun! 🌈📺

#woodentoys #grimmswoodentoys #screentimealternatives #screentime #openendedtoys by @tillystoys

A Sunday sweetie stack. If you're looking for a beginners stack this is a nice one to do. It wasn't too tricky but required a bit of thinking about and a steady hand. It didn't fall down once but still felt like a fun challenge.

I'm thinking about getting a second set just for extra stacking potential. What do you reckon, is two sets of sweets too many? 🍬🍬

@chillp3pp3r #chillpepperchallenge #stackingtoys #woodentoysforkids #stemactivitiesforkids #stemtoysforkids by @tillystoys